Mizuhime
by Catwho
Summary: Maybe Gray ought to pay more attention to what certain water mages are trying to tell him.
1. Sacrifice to the Water Gods

**This is one of those fics that my scumbag brain dreamed up on a weekend when I have three projects and two power point presentations due, so I've spent the last three-ish hours writing fic instead of writing a PHP assignment. Thanks, scumbag brain.**

* * *

Gray never meant to ignore Juvia.

It was just his personality. He spent so much of his life learning to focus on the task at hand - to filter out all distractions, to pursue the goal, to complete the objective in front of him no matter what the cost or the odds. His habit of stripping his clothes unconsciously was an unfortunate side effect of that training; when one is supposed to battle impossible forces, one must make oneself as comfortable and remove as many distractions as possible. Clothing is a distraction. It prevents him from feeling the ice.

So unless Juvia caught him at a time when he wasn't focused on something else, there was a good possibility that what she said would go in one ear and out the other. That was also the case for all of the guildmates at Fairy Tail - they would say something that would later turn out to be important, but Gray tuned it out completely at the time because it was just there, background noise, not important.

Juvia was his background noise.

He was vaguely aware of the crush she had on him, but it wasn't until Lyon tried to horn in on his territory that he started to think of her as more than just the crazy stalker water mage. She clearly cared for him, for reasons he couldn't really fathom, but she was always there, thinking of him, anticipating his needs.

If he was hot, she was there with a glass of ice water. If he was feeling unmotivated, she was there to cheer him on. If he'd accidentally stripped down to his boxers (or worse) she was there to gently tap him on the shoulder (although not before getting a happy eyeful in a few cases, he'd learned.) That was Juvia.

Like water and his clothes, he took Juvia for granted.

He was sitting at the guild table, his current mission in life to once again defeat Natsu for good in a fair fight. Unfortunately, Natsu wasn't up to playing today; he was busy arguing with Lucy because she'd scribbled all over his face with a magic marker while he was asleep. Happy hadn't escaped unscathed either.

"That's what you get for climbing into my bed without permission!" Lucy hissed, but she had clearly enjoyed the nocturnal decoration.

Natsu's face had been drawn to look like Macao, scrabby beard and all.

"But did you have to use a permanent marker?" Natsu wailed. "I can't even burn it off!" He lit himself on fire a few times to prove his point. He'd managed to burn or scrub off most of it, but the ghost of her artwork remained on his face.

Happy had demanded that Lucy summon Cancer to trim the excess ink off his fur, marking the first time in his short life that the Exceed had ever had a haircut.

"Gray-sama," a gentle voice said from behind him. He turned to see it was Juvia, and then turned back to the fight between Lucy and Natsu.

"Hi Juvia," he said, ignoring the distraction.

"Gray-sama, Juvia will be going on a long mission," the water mage said shyly in his ear. "Juvia was wondering if Gray-sama would like to join her."

Gray's one-track mind only picked out the word "long mission" and he shook his head. "Naw, I've got a few missions of my own that I need to take care of." Suddenly, he saw his opening when Lucy stomped off in a huff and Natsu turned up his own internal heat to maximum levels, his red flames tinging to blue. The last of the ink burned off his skin.

"Ahaha! Victorious!" Natsu cried, his triumph apparent.

"Ice-make: Snowball." Gray smirked and through the ball of snow directly at Natsu's now clean face.

He didn't hear the sigh from behind him, nor notice the gentle squeeze on his arm, or catch the impact of Juvia's words.

"Then Juvia will go on alone. Goodbye, Gray-sama," Juvia said with formality, and left the guild.

Gray was too busy fighting with Natsu to think too much about her words.

* * *

It was a few days later that Erza confronted him.

"Gray, did Juvia say anything to you before she left?"

He wracked his brain, trying to recall the conversation he'd only half paid attention to. "She said something about a long mission, and then she told me goodbye," he said, hoping that he was remembering right.

Erza sighed. "That's what I was afraid of. I think this is the mission she undertook." She handed him a sheet of paper, and several other guild members peered over his shoulder, interested in what it said.

"Save our Island!" was written at the very top. There was a picture of a volcanic island erupting, and a small cluster of figures at the base of the island. A foreign language subtitled the picture.

Levy read the caption. "Islanders performing a sacrifice," she explained, pointing out each character in turn.

Gray felt his blood run cold.

"We are in need of a Water Mage to act as a sacrifice to the Water Gods, to bring bountiful harvests and plentiful rainfall to our island. Reward: One million jewels."

"Surely she wouldn't undertake a job that required her to commit suicide, or be killed," Lucy pointed out objectively. "There's got to be more to it than just this."

Erza shook her head. "I don't trust island missions any more. Remember Galuna Island?" Those who had been involved in that incident shuddered. "And... well, if you want to end your life, taking a mission that requires suicide is probably the best way to do it."

With that, everyone glared at Gray.

"Whoa, whoa," he said, holding out his hands and backing up. "I guess she did ask me if I wanted to come along and I said no, but surely she wouldn't be suicidal over such a thing."

"She does love Gray dearly," Levy said softly.

"And Gray refused to come with her on a dangerous mission," Erza added.

"How unmanly!"

It was Natsu who pointed out the obvious. "Maybe if Gray goes after her, she'll stop this crazy sacrificial mission."

Everyone started nodding affirmatively. Gray felt himself sweating and took off his shirt out of instinct.

"All right, all right! I'll go after her!" he said loudly, earning him an approving smirk from Erza. "Jeez. You're acting like I TOLD her to go kill herself or something."

"No," Erza said, and thwapped him on the head with the mission sheet. "We're acting like you broke her heart, which you probably did. You take her for granted. You lead her on, never accepting her love, but never rejecting it either."

"That's..." And here Gray felt himself losing the argument, and slipped off his pants in frustration. "I don't know how to handle it, okay?" he shouted. "Now can we please stop discussing this in the middle of the guild?"

Erza handed him his shirt and his newly liberated pants, wordlessly.

"You can reach the island by ferry on the southern tip of Fiore," Levy said helpfully. "Don't forget your passport."

* * *

And so it was that Gray Fullbuster found himself traveling by train, then by foot, then by boat over the course of several days, to the tropical islands of Hu'Wei.

As he stood on the railings wearing nothing but his swimsuit (the captain had politely asked him to put at least something on), he reflected on his treatment of Juvia.

He didn't mean to ignore her. He didn't mean to take her for granted. She was a guildmate, a companion, a friend... but the thought of not having her around caused a painful tightening in his chest.

She didn't seem like the type to commit suicide. She'd lived most of her life in a state of depression and hadn't killed herself all that time.

But, she'd never been rejected in love during that time either.

_Had_ he rejected her? Erza seemed to think so, but there was a huge realm of difference between "I don't want to go on a long mission with you" and "I don't like you."

Did he like her?

Okay, she was attractive. But Fairy Tail was full of some rather attractive women and it was sort of a survival skill for the men in the guild to develop some immunity to large bosoms, swaying hips, and exposed flesh. Hell, there was some aversion therapy too if you accidentally ogled Erza the wrong way and she was in a cranky mood.

Juvia was kind. She wanted to protect her guildmates, with her life if necessary, but all Fairy Tail mages were that way. She was sweet and shy and very powerful in her own right. She had been abused as a child but had somehow grown up to be a (somewhat) normal adult despite it all.

And she was madly, madly in love with Gray.

"Shit," he said aloud, staring at the endless water on the horizon. He wracked his hand through his hair, greatly annoyed with himself all of a sudden. "Shit, shit, shit."

Okay. He'd find her first, rescue her from certain death, and _then_ he'd deal with his own feelings toward her.

He just hoped he wasn't too late.

* * *

**Okay, this is in at least two parts, so here's the question, without spoilers: How naughty do you want this to be? I can do naughty or I can do sweet and Disney. Let me know your vote in a review!**


	2. Water Princess

**So far the "naughties" are winning. Thanks for the reviews! We'll keep things PG just for one more chapter...**

* * *

The ferry dropped him off at a rustic port, where he showed his passport at the customs and was admitted in (after first putting on his clothes.) The island's main town was surprisingly large and seemed to be decorated for some sort of festival.

He approached what was clearly a visitor's booth, and showed the woman at the booth the mission poster.

"A friend of mine undertook this mission," he said, trying to keep his voice neutral. "I'm trying to find her and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."

The guide laughed at him. "Of course! Miss Juvia has graciously accepted the position of the Sacrificial Water Princess for the Water God's festival this year." She smiled, and beckoned him toward a path in the tropical woods that led up to what appeared to be a temple. He followed her, slightly confused at her reaction.

Gray blanched when he saw the gaudy decorations that bedecked the beach. This place didn't have the feeling that it was about to sacrifice an innocent water mage to an angry water god, but all the signs in the festival atmosphere pointed to exactly that. The image of the young woman being killed on the altar before the mountain was just about everywhere.

The tour guide led him up the long steps to the temple, where the decorations were even more lavish. Lights in blue, green, and white were strung along the way, with streams and lanterns and the image of the mountain hanging from every single gate.

"The sacrifice will be held in two weeks," his guide said, smiling, and handed him a brochure, which also held the picture of the girl being sacrificed in front of the mountain. "Please enjoy your stay in Hu'Wei until that time."

She left, probably to go back down to her booth and help the next visitor.

He stared, open mouthed, at the lush festival before him. It was a goddamn carnival. A friggin' carnival to _kill Juvia._ Irritated, he stuffed the brochure into his pocket without reading it.

He paid a token admission fee to the shrine, and watched a small group of dancers perform on a stage. There was apparently a cake walk going on at one stall, and there were hundreds of young children running around on a sugar high. Vendors displayed wares for sale, and the smell of delicious foods filled the air.

He proceeded cautiously through the large festival grounds, feeling more and more weirded out with every step. Finally, he approached the main part of the temple proper, which was guarded heavily by men in exotic armor with large, dangerous looking spears.

"You wish to have an audience with the Water Princess?" one of them said, and Gray nodded. The guard stomped his spear on the ground in affirmation. "Drop your weapons, and wash your hands."

Gray was already unarmed (inasmuch as any Make mage was without weapons) and he washed his hands as told at a small pool. Obviously Juvia was still alive, if the sacrifice was not for two whole weeks. Surely that would be enough time to convince her to stop this foolish mission and not throw her life away.

He climbed the last set of stairs up the small mountain alone, and at the summit found himself in a small courtyard with an tiny bridge over a moat leading to an elaborate covered dais in the middle.

On a throne, made of solid quartz polished and stained to look like flowing water, was Juvia. She was wearing a crown made of the same material, and loose silken robes that had been dyed to look like water as well, with the white fading to deep blue near the hem. She was being attended by a half dozen young girls of varying ages wearing similar outfits, and was bending water in her hand idly to entertain them, laughing with them.

She did not look like a depressed woman about to commit suicide. In fact, she looked as happy as he'd ever seen her. He felt even more confused and a bit out of place in this feminine water sanctuary.

And then she looked down from her throne, and saw Gray standing there.

Her mouth opened in astonishment, and she dropped her water onto the dais with a splash.

"Gray-sama!" she cried, almost standing up. Six pairs of young eyes stared at the man who had dared to enter the court of their water princess and cause her to lose control of her natural element. Armed guards appeared from the edges of the courtyard, ready to defend their sacrifice to anyone who tried to hurt her before the ceremony.

"Juvia," he called desperately, his fists balled at his side. "I've come to take you back home to Fairy Tail."

She tilted her head at him, confused. "But why Gray-sama? Juvia is the Water Princess this year. Juvia must be sacrificed to the Mizukami to ensure a good harvest." She clapped her hands in delight.

She just said it so calmly!

"Look, I'm sorry if I ignored you. I'm sorry if I... made you think I didn't care." While he spoke, he was slipping out of his shirt unconsciously, baring his chest and his Fairy Tail mark to the world. "But there are people in the guild who love you and would miss you if you were gone. Can't you think about the rest of us? What about _my_ feelings?" And now it was his turn to stare at the ground, tears pooling in his eyes, trying not to cry out in anguish. "I _like_ you, Juvia, and I know you love me. I don't want you to get yourself killed just because you thought I didn't love you back."

There was a lot of hushed whispering among the young girls around Juvia. The water mage, for her part, was crying openly, and the ominous thunder in the distance indicated that she was on the verge of accidentally bringing a massive squall to the island, perhaps prematurely ending the festivities.

After hearing the unexpected declaration of love from Gray, the guards relaxed and stepped back.

"Juvia is so happy," she said, sniffling and trying to wipe away her tears. "But it is too late. Juvia has already promised to be the sacrifice this year."

Gray heard a throat clearing behind him, and he turned to see the tour guide who had led him up the steps, with a few more wide-eyed tourists from Fiore behind her. They'd heard the whole thing.

"I think perhaps you are under the wrong impression," the tour guide said gently with a smile. "Miss Juvia will not be killed."

"But she's going to be sacrificed!" he shouted, throwing his hands up to the throne where Juvia was still blubbering in joy over Gray's impassioned speech.

The tour guide shook her head, trying not to burst into laughter. "We haven't actually _killed _our water princess for almost four hundred years. She is sacrificed, yes, but all that means is that she can only be the water princess one time." The guide pointed to a pendant she wore around her neck, made of the same blue and white quartz as the throne. "I was the water princess myself just a few years ago." Then she pointed to the girls that were surrounding Juvia, trying to stem the tide of tears before she rained out the entire festival.

"The water maidens are all young water mages, and they will probably be the water princess in future years. We just found ourselves without a suitable water maiden this year, and had to put out a flyer to the main continent to try to find a substitute. Miss Juvia heeded our call, and we are indebted to her."

Gray had stripped down to his boxers during her monologue out of embarrassment.

"So she's not going to die?" he finally asked, dumbly.

"No." The guide gave him a small shove toward the dais. "She's enjoying an all expense paid vacation. If you're her friend, you too are more than welcome to stay for the festival and the sacrifice in two weeks."

Gray grabbed his pants and shirt, and pulled the brochure out of his pocket to finally read the damn thing. Yet again, his inability to focus on anything but the mission had screwed things up badly.

Once Juvia had calmed down, it was almost time for her "court" to end anyway, and she was escorted by her water maidens to the Princess's Chambers. He'd learned that the ritual sacrifice of a water mage to the Mizukami was now more of a symbolic gesture, and that among the lady water mages of the island, it was actually a fairly high honor. The festival marked the start of the growing season on the tropical island of Hu'Wei, and was considered a prime tourist destination for the wealthy from Fiore and other countries on Earthland.

A far, far cry from Galuna Island. He owed Erza a good clobbering.

And suddenly he realized he'd been set up. _Of course_ Erza and the others had known that Juvia was safe. Hell, Levy probably had a damn book on Hu'Wei and could quote facts and statistics from memory. He could just imagine them all laughing at the gullible Gray, so busy trying to save the world he never stopped to do any research.

His humiliation was complete when his stomach growled while he stood in the middle of the courtyard. With a sigh, he bought some of the festival food and then decided to find Juvia.

He asked where the Water Princess was staying, and he was escorted to her chambers without question once he explained that he was one of her guild members. Her honor guard, too, was mostly symbolic.

He soon found himself seated in what was a fairly opulent bedchamber, once he had been politely asked to dress himself again. He really needed to work on the whole not-stripping-in-public thing.

"Juvia is so happy Gray-sama came after all," she said when she emerged from her dressing room. She had changed out of the elaborate flowing water robes into a much simpler nightgown, flimsy and suitable for the tropical weather. Gray could see her Fairy Tail stamp on her thigh through the thin material. He also noted idly that she was... clearly not wearing any underthings. "Juvia knew that this was going to be a fun vacation and thought that Gray-sama might like a break."

He felt ashamed and embarrassed all at once. He put his heads in his hands.

"I'm sorry Juvia, I should have listened to you," he said miserably. "I should have paid more attention to you."

She sat gracefully next to him on the couch. "Juvia knows that Gray-sama is very focused," she said with a tiny smile. "That is one of the things Juvia loves about Gray-sama."

Hesitantly, she reached out to touch his hand, and Gray felt himself jump at the contact. Then, he let himself curl his fingers around hers, still annoyed with the entire sequence of events, but suddenly grateful that Juvia didn't actually think her life of so little worth.

He finally had at least _one_ answer to why she liked him. Maybe that was a start.

"So how did you know that this whole thing was just a play?" he asked, holding up the brochure.

She shrugged. "Many water mages come from the island of Hu'Wei, and Juvia knew about the water festival here. Juvia had always wanted to come see it for herself, but she never thought she'd get to be the Water Princess." She blushed prettily and wriggled in excitement. "It is a childhood dream come true. Juvia is so happy!"

And in that moment, her eyes sparkling in joy and wearing a bit too little for the circumstances, Juvia was the most beautiful woman in the world to Gray.

He really just wanted to kiss her.


	3. Let yourself love

So why didn't he just do it?

If ever there was a moment, this was it. They were alone, she was having the time of her life and had never looked prettier, and all it would take would be a few inches to dip in and claim her lips for his own. But all of Gray's worries came back to him in a rush – he really just didn't _know how to handle_ Juvia. And it wasn't because he didn't like her – it was precisely because he did that admitting it was so hard.

He was a coward. He was afraid to let himself love a pretty girl, to risk getting into an actual relationship with all the problems that it would entail. He'd been hurt too badly as a child, and now all he could think about was protecting Fairy Tail and keeping his friends safe.

But would Ur want that?

Humans have a natural need to love, she had said. They gravitate to one another, form guilds and families, because of that need to love. And even if someone denies it, or believes firmly that they are different, they are wrong. Love is what makes us human.

It was time for Gray to get the fuck over himself and just let himself love another human being.

Still holding her hand, he reached over to brush his lips against hers, gently, questioningly. She blinked and when she didn't push him away, he slid his free arm around her shoulders to cradle the back of her head.

"I'm happy that you're happy," he said, and touched his forehead to hers. "And I meant what I said earlier. I do like you, Juvia. Even if I'm not very good at showing it." There, he had laid his heart bare before her. He could imagine Ur smiling at him from the ocean.

"Juvia knows," she said, and gave him another tentative smile. "Gray-sama should just continue to be himself." She reached up to touch his hair softly. "I am glad that Gray-sama is with me." She referenced herself in the first person, a rare occasion for her. "I am happy that Gray-sama is able to love, after all..."

Could she read his mind? He stared at her, in astonishment, and she answered his bewildered look with another dry, chaste kiss.

And that was when he lost it.

He kissed her again, this time much more deeply and urgently. Her hair was down and loose the way he loved it, damp from her bath, and he ran his fingers through it, marveling at the silken texture. She made a tiny mewling sound as he moved his kisses to her jaw, to her neck, and finally to her ear.

If he was going to love someone, he was damn well going to do it right.

She practically squealed when he touched his tongue to her earlobe.

"Gray-sama," she murmured. "Juvia has always dreamed of this..."

He stopped kissing her ear, sensing the unspoken "but" in her sentence. "You want me to stop?" he asked, almost incredulous. She'd been throwing herself at him for months!

"Juvia is... embarrassed." She closed her eyes and squirmed in his arms. "Juvia doesn't know quite what to do. But please do not stop."

Maybe they weren't so different after all.

"Just go with the flow," he said, and resumed kissing her neck. "You of all people should be good at that.

"Yes, Gray-sama."

"And stop calling me 'sama', unless you want me to start calling you 'princess.'"

She giggled.

"Juvia doesn't mind being called princess for a few weeks," she said, and circled one of her fingers along his Fairy Tail mark, just visible through the gap in his shirt. "Especially by Gray-sama."

His answer to that was to growl and slip the strap of the nightgown off her shoulder with one hand, while expertly unbuttoning his own shirt with the other one.

"Juvia doesn't understand why Gray-sama bothers with shirts anyway," she admitted as he shrugged off the garment.

"It's more civilized, I guess. And Erza hits me if I don't at least try."

He pulled her second strap free, giving him full access to both of her pale shoulders. He kissed all around the her clavicles, dipping his tongue into the indentations, trying not to suck too hard because her ceremonial outfit would show every hickey he left on her.

She sighed and gently fell back onto the couch.

He nipped at the point of her shoulder, and then suddenly sat back up. Damn. _Damn!_

"I don't have a condom," he groaned. "I didn't think I'd need one... I thought I was rescuing you from committing suicide..."

She looked at him, a dazed expression on her face, probably wondering if she was having a dream. "Juvia didn't think she would need one either." She blinked at him, so damn beautiful and sexy and rumpled, but then her expression clarified. "Ah, but Erza taught Juvia a protection spell for times like this."

A..._what? _He felt his jaw drop open, and with a giggle she shut it, then caressed his cheek.

"I don't know what scares me more, the fact that there is a "protection spell" or the fact that Erza knows it." He shuddered. There was that aversion therapy again – the thought of Erza and sex together was not something he wanted to cloud his mood right this moment.

No distractions allowed. Focus... focus...

He shook his head to clear out that particular thought and return himself to the current mission – pleasing Juvia and getting Erza to shut up about him leading the water mage on. Erza had struck a nerve back in the guild, whether she realized it or not.

He picked Juvia up off the couch, bridal style, causing her to coo in delight. He then set her on the bed, and swiftly stripped out of his remaining clothes. Rapid stripping was not a skill that came in handy very often, but this was one of those rare times.

"All right, 'princess,'" he said with a husky note in his voice as he sat next to her on the bed. "Use your spell or do whatever you have to do...unless you want us to stop now. I mean... I clearly didn't expect for this to happen, and you're probably-"

"No, no, Gray-sama," she cried, interrupting him. "Juvia definitely does not want to stop. What if... Gray-sama changes his mind tomorrow? Juvia wants to make sure she has a precious memory of this-"

He winced and pressed one finger against her lips. "I won't change my mind about liking you. Trust me."

Wanting to feel all of her, he pulled off her nightgown completely, and she was bared before him, her gently rounded curves and perfect skin making all thoughts of angry Erza flee his mind.

"The spell?" he prompted her. She nodded, and chanted a few words under her breath and her body was suffused in a soft glow that faded quickly.

"That's it?"

"Yes," she said shyly, blushing heavily. "Juvia will not have a baby... this time." She cradled her arms across her chest, looking away.

The vision of her with a blue haired baby water mage in those arms was rather endearing, but hell, they had just had their _first kiss_ not twenty minutes ago. He sighed, grabbed her by her shoulders, and kissed her again. Time to make up for lost ground.

He wasn't sure when her shy little hands started tentatively exploring his body, but at some point she found her way down to his erect penis, and stroked it gently, causing him to shudder. In answer, he reached down to her woman's core, also stroking her most sensitive spot while he kissed those glorious breasts of hers.

"So beautiful," he murmured. "Just like a princess..."

His water princess answered him by sighing, or perhaps moaning, or some combination of the two, and stretching her hands above her head to grab the headboard, releasing his member to indulge in her own pleasure.

Gray didn't have a lot of experience in this area, aside from some very drunk groping and moments after particularly raucous Fairy Tail parties, so he hoped her cries of pleasure and the small jerks of her body were a sign that he was doing it right.

He kissed his way from her breasts, down the flat planes of her stomach, down to the soft downy hair at her juncture. He was surprised to see how neatly groomed it was – not quite shaved all the way, but still carefully trimmed. Perhaps it wasn't so unusual, considering how neat and clean she was as a person.

He loved her figure. She was not a physical mage like many members of the guild, and as a result she lacked the sharply defined abs that showed rigorously physical training. Instead, her belly was gently curved, healthy and womanly.

His kisses reached down and replaced his fingers on her clitoris, causing her to jolt in his arms as if shocked. She tasted sweet, freshly cleaned from her bath after her court session. He felt her change her hands from the headboard to his hair, gripping his head for dear life, and he smirked as she chanted his name over and over again in time with his thrusting tongue.

She came with a panicked shudder, and he continued lapping at her gently, extending her orgasm as long as he could.

She lay there panting, and he couldn't help but swell a little, in pride. Bringing a woman to orgasm wasn't so hard after all, he thought smugly.

"Juvia... has never felt anything like that before," she said, her face flushed and sweating slightly.

"Never? You never had an orgasm before?" A thought occurred to him. She had once dated Bora, but that relationship hadn't lasted long, apparently. "You're a virgin, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

"Yes," she whimpered, and turned away. "Who would want to make love to the rain girl?"

"I would," he told her honestly, and laid down next to her on the bed, cradling her a bit, letting her completely recover.

She had plans of her own, however, and with another sly smile she followed the same migratory pattern he had, kissing her way from his Fairy Tail stamp down his chest, paying special attention to his muscular abs, toying with his pubic hair for a few endearing moments, and ending with her mouth wrapped around his dick.

The world almost turned white, and he gritted his teeth and gripped the sheets while Juvia suckled him and rubbed her hands around his shaft and his balls, actually turning them partially to _warm water_, he realized through his haze, to be able to give him a gentle, undulating pressure all around. It was insanely good and a trick that only a water mage could do.

He groaned in pleasurable agony, trying desperately not to come straight in her mouth and end it all right there. But Juvia was determined, and he found himself letting go, too soon, too soon.

He lay there, stunned, panting, while the water princess lapped up his semen like it was something delicious. It probably was to her...

Once he could speak again, he asked her honestly, "Where the hell did a virgin learn to do _that_?"

She blinked at him a few times, eyes wide and innocent. "Levy's books," was all she said.

"You _researched_ how to give a man an earth shattering blowjob?"

"Not just any man." She grinned. "Gray-sama only."

He closed his eyes and leaned back, still riding the high, unable to believe the heights that she had taken him to. That had bene nothing, _nothing_ like jerking off. Nothing like a drunk one night stand.

It was because it was _Juvia._

After a few more moments he reached down and pulled her up close to him, cuddling her some more.

"Sorry princess, it might be a few minutes before we can do anything else," he warned, and gently kissed her on the nose. "Guys don't have the ability to go at it back to back that easily."

And then her sneaky hand was reaching down, stroking him again with her hand partially liquified, and he felt his spent member growing to life again. He moaned into her neck. _Shit,_ he thought to himself, _she's good._

"Maybe not," she said, giving him another sly grin, as she stroked him back to a full erection within just a few minutes.

"That shouldn't have worked," he said, still astonished over the fast return. "It's never worked like that before..."

"Gray-sama wants to please Juvia. Gray's body does, too."

He growled, stilled her hand, rolled on top of her, and settled down in the position that humans had used since the dawn of time, gently butting against her entrance.

"This might hurt a little," he warned, and she nodded in acknowledgment as he guided himself in. He felt her stiffen a little and whine softly, but she bore it well as he tore through the delicate membrane. He waited for a few minutes, letting her adjust, before he gripped her hips and started gliding in and out.

"So wet," he murmured.

"Juvia _is_ water," she said through clenched teeth, reaching up to grab the headboard again as he rode her hard. "And Gray is hard like ice..." She left off the "-sama" for the first time that night, too far gone in her own pleasure to notice it. He wrapped his arms around her back, bringing them closer, nuzzling her ear and her neck again.

She gasped again, and he tried to stay aware enough to complete his mission, to give Juvia the best first time any girl in Fairy Tail could ask for. Her beautiful hair was sprawled along the pillows in those spiral ringlets he adored, and her breasts were bouncing up and down with each thrust. He reached down to kiss her again and she returned the kiss hungrily, entangling her tongue with his in time with their lovemaking.

"Ah, Gray-sama!" she cried aloud, closing her eyes and suddenly clenching around him. He almost immediately lost control for the second time, letting himself come inside her just moments after her orgasm. He thrust a few more times, but they were too slick for friction now, and he stopped, trying not to collapse on top of her.

"Damn," he murmured softly against her cheek. "I thought I had better control than that."

"What do you mean, Gray-sama?" she asked sleepily.

"I wanted to hold off a little longer." He kissed her temple, smelling the waterlilies that scented her hair. "'If a man can forego his pleasure, he can prolong the pleasure of his woman, thus proving his manliness,'" he said in a mocking voice, imitating one of Elfman's manliness lectures.

She giggled. "Did Elfman teach Gray-sama that?"

Gray chuckled as well."Yup, during one of his drunker speeches. After that, Evergreen dragged him off and no one saw either of them for three days. I think she was testing him..."

With a sigh he dismounted, and lay next to her, nuzzling at her shoulder lazily.

"So you're the princess here for two weeks, eh?" he asked after a while, hoping she hadn't fallen asleep just yet.

"Yes," she said. "I hold court for four hours in the morning and another four hours in the afternoon. Other than that, I am free to enjoy the festival as the guest of honor." She sighed wistfully. "It has been like being a real princess. They even bring me breakfast in bed!"

"Thanks for the head's up, we'll both need to get some clothes on before morning," he mumbled against her neck.

She was so damn sexy like that, curled up against him, her lashes dark against her pale cheeks, her hair wonderfully tangled around her head.

"Get some sleep," he said to her, holding back a yawn, "cause we've got two weeks before I have to give up my princess to a water god, and I have a lot of things I've always wanted to try in bed..."

* * *

The final day of the Water Festival had Juvia strapped down to a giant slab made out of the same watery quartz as her crown and her throne, surrounded by her six water maidens, while a priest dressed in a giant mask held an ornate bucket of water over her head.

Gray had learned that four hundred years ago, it _had_ been a knife, but a sudden shortage of suitable water mages one year had made them realize that killing off the young ladies who would later on give birth to new water mages was probably not a smart idea, in the grand scheme of things. So the idea of a symbolic sacrifice - just using a fresh water princess each year so the water god got a new "wife" every time - had taken hold instead. The only rules were that she had to be unmarried and at least sixteen years old.

Juvia had shyly told him that she was supposed to _technically_ still be a virgin at this point, but no one would bother checking and more than a few of the previous princesses had actually been engaged or had their lovers staying with them like he had. The water god here apparently didn't care either way about sloppy seconds since his brides were all still alive in the first place. Gray imagined him as a pervy old man like Makarov, content just to have a wet and naked lady presented before him for a few minutes for freebie ogling before she was let go.

The priest doused Juvia in the holy water, and she pretended to lay dead, her spirit given as a token to the water god.

After a round of applause, she was released from the sacrificial altar, and stood up and bowed, drenched and nude but smiling happily. She'd confided in Gray that this was probably the easiest million jewels she'd ever earned.

Her little water maidens toweled her off, and she smiled at them too as they wrapped her in a clean robe. The eldest of them would have her turn as a princess the following year. According to the tour guide, former water maidens were highly prized as wives and brought a lot of status with them - so he better had take _very_ good care of Juvia in the future, she had said with a faintly threatening air.

For the grand finale, Juvia called on all her magic and covered the island in a gentle rain shower. Because Gray was there, the sun shone through the clouds, and for his part, Gray cheekily turned the rain around her to snow, much to the delight of the young water maidens who had never seen it before.

* * *

They rode back to Fairy Tail together on the ferry, Juvia back in her normal clothes, and Gray back down to his skivvies as usual. They were holding hands as they leaned against the railing of the boat, watching the sun set together.

"So, I promise the next time you ask me to go on a mission with you, I'll press for more details," he said.

"And Juvia will explain more clearly what the mission is." She glanced down shyly at her pendant. They had given her the blue and white quartz necklace that forever marked her as a water princess, and she couldn't tear her eyes from it.

"I think it suits you," he teased, and touched the pendant.

"Juvia thinks Gray-sama suits her more." She blushed, but managed to look straight at him, a dangerous glint in her expression. She slipped one of her hands under his shirt, brushing her fingertips against his Fairy Tail mark, her newly developed signal that she wanted intimacy.

He rolled his eyes and answered her with a kiss. She was insatiable.

"Now who's got the one track mind?" he whispered, and then dragged her down the hold to their shared stateroom for another round of playing princess.

* * *

**There's your naughty, everyone. Thanks for all the reviews! Now go poke all your Gruvia friends and have them come read it too!**


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